Through its subsidiary RATP Dev, the Parisian public transport company has been operating fifteen buses in the colors of the American flag since Wednesday.
When it comes to original means of transport, New York seems to appreciate French know-how. After the cable car serving Roosevelt Island installed by the Poma company, it is the turn of the RATP to offer its services there with double-decker tourist buses crisscrossing the streets of Big Apple. Through its subsidiary RATP Dev, the Parisian public transport company has been operating fifteen buses in the colors of the American flag since yesterday. They connect the main sights of the city on two separate routes (north and south Manhattan).
Baptized Open Tour , this service employs around sixty people and aims to reach 200,000 people for its first year. Visitors (adults) will pay between $ 39 (28 euros) for a day and 65 dollars (47 euros) for a week.
To establish itself in the tourist walking market, the company relies on its “hop on, hop off” formula (tourists get on and off at will on its two lines) and on its audioguides in nine languages and in a children’s version. As for technophiles, they will appreciate accessing the bus without a ticket by downloading their place using a smartphone.
“The launch of these tourist lines will consolidate our development in the United States, while allowing us to diversify our range of activities there,” underlines François-Xavier Perin, Chairman of the Management Board of RATP Dev. They allow us to stay close to the passenger who decides on the success of the product and are generally more attractive in terms of profitability than public transport. ” Present in twelve countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, and in more than thirty communities in France, RATP Dev carries out most of its activity in traditional public transport (metro, bus, tram, train) but it intends to continue this tourism development. The company has already joined forces with ParisCityVision for the Open Tour Paris, which transports 700,000 tourists per year in its green buses. In February 2011, it bought the Bath Bus Company and its thirty double-decker buses allowing visitors to visit this city in the south of England. The year 2014 will allow the concept to be tested and refined, but RATP Dev confirms that other capitals are being studied and should host this same service, while retaining the Open Tour name.
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